There's a Fine Line
by KyoSo
Summary: Deconstruction fic built on the mythology of Sonic Adventure 1&2. At what point is the world just not worth saving any more? Can you actually let go and watch it all burn, or do you keep fighting a losing battle? GUN, a military organization totally corrupt and out of control, is hunting Sonic under false pretenses and Tails is the only one with a way out.
1. On the Run

**Chapter 1**

 **On the Run**

Today was nothing special. The weather wasn't particularly wonderful, but it was the kind of day in which one could make outdoor plans without fear of them falling victim to precipitation. In fact, barring possible cloud cover, it was the perfect circumstances for the meteor shower predicted to peak at eleven thirty, tonight.

Atop a lush hill overlooking a lake, which, while certainly containing its fair share of garbage, was at least passably picturesque if you didn't look too closely, was a small split level dwelling. It was in some state of disrepair, although this was due more to inattention from the occupant than anything, and as long as the actual structural integrity of the building wasn't compromised he didn't think there was any cause for worry.

Miles "Tails" Prower stepped out the front door, shoulder bag strapped to his side. He scanned the surroundings expectantly, but found nobody waiting for him. "Typical," he scoffed, and began rummaging through his sack. He produced a can of cola, cracked it open, downed it in one gulp, belched, threw the can into the lake, zipped up the bag, and began on his way. Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit had agreed to meet him at nine o'clock sharp, and from there they were to travel to an idyllic spot atop a nearby plateau. It was an arduous hike, but it was the best possible viewing spot for the meteor shower, and Tails had no intention of missing another one due to light pollution.

About seventy yards down the dirt path from his house, he produced his cellphone from the bag and dialed Amy's number.

"Where are you?" Tails said, gruffly.

"On the plateau," Amy answered. "Where are _you_?"

"Waiting for you! We said nine o'clock at my place!"

"No, we said we'd be at the _plateau_ at nine o'clock. We came to your place at seven and you weren't there."

The ensuing pause lasted six ice ages. "No you didn't," Tails straw-grasped.

Amy ignored him. "Can you make it by eleven?"

"Of course I can," he lied.

And that was that.

* * *

It had been a quiet few months for the gang. Despite the recent events regarding the space colony ARK, the remainder of the year had been downright pleasant. Winter had come and gone without incident, and the lush spring air gave an inviting sense of contentment. Life was slow and uneventful, and that was just the way it should be. Even Dr. Eggman had all but given up his attempts to dominate, and quietly resided in his underground facility inventing and patenting various useful gadgets for everyday activities.

However, with half the moon missing, there was a devastating effect on the tides which resulted in a number of coastal cities being wiped off the map. Eggman was only able to escape trial for this by trading a large amount of his highly advanced weapons technology to G.U.N. in exchange for immunity. Had the public known about this, there certainly would have been a massive outcry, but if anyone knew how to keep behind closed doors, it was G.U.N. commander Abraham Tower. He had successfully overseen and concealed hundreds of highly illegal missions over the past thirty years, all in the name of continued freedom. This was an organization that, when handed a job, got that job done, no questions asked. Unfortunately, due to their reputation as protectorate of the people, there wasn't a damn thing anybody could do to keep them in check.

* * *

Tails huffed his way up a steep incline, flashlight in hand. It had gotten quite dark in the past hour, and he wasn't prepared to trip and break anything vital to his continued locomotion. The thousands of cicadas in the surrounding forest hummed loudly, repeatedly reaching a crescendo before quieting back down again. He briefly considered screaming at them to shut the hell up, but thought better of it. He continued along, panting and wiping the sweat from his forehead. Here he was, again, late to the party. As always.

He could hear the distant sounds of laughter mocking him. They were up there having fun, and he wasn't there to join in. He made a note to take revenge on everybody and continued on his way.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"Tails?" came the response.

Tails ran as fast as he could, covering the remaining distance. The trees dwindled to shrubs as he entered a large clearing where Amy and Cream had set up camp. A decent-sized bonfire was crackling loudly as Cheese the Chao aerobatically swooped in a figure-eight pattern above it, singing gibberish.

"I'm here now," said Tails, pointlessly.

"Did you bring the camera?" asked Cream, lounging across a sleeping bag next to the fire.

Tails answered by unzipping the bag and producing a rather fancy DSLR, complete with telephoto lens. "Freakin' sweet, isn't she?" he beamed. He set the camera atop a tripod, lens fixed on the sky. "I don't suppose Sonic is anywhere to be found?"

"Of course not!" Amy blurted out. "He still has to answer for all the property damage he caused escaping from the feds. "

"It's not like they could overlook it in light of him saving the world or anything," Tails grumbled. "There's always gotta be a fall guy, and Sonic is straight-up haphazard with nearly everything he does."

"Some might call it free-spirited," Amy suggested.

"I call it clumsy and dangerous," said Tails, shrugging, "but whatever. He destroyed a lot of cars charging through the city streets like a maniac. Maybe it's good that he's being held accountable." Tails shifted around uncomfortably. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Not even for a second," Amy answered, as Cream nodded an affirmative. "Why?"

"No reason," Tails lied. "I just want to see my buddy, y'know?"

A cool breeze lightly rustled the tree branches as the sun let out its last flare and disappeared across the horizon. No longer could one could frantically make the case that the thin sliver of light still wavering through the forest still arguably constituted daytime; that ship had sailed. The cold blanket of night fully covered the land, and now it was time for the meteor shower.

The rest of the evening was an overall pleasant experience. Save for one or two spectacular fireballs, the shower was nothing special. Adequate. Not disappointing. Simply adequate.

"Well that was a load of bull," Tails complained at an innappropriate volume.

"Quiet, Tails. It was pretty," Amy shushed him.

"I've seen better."

"Chao chao chao," input Cheese, unhelpfully.

"I'm gonna head back to my place," said Tails, stowing his camera back into the messenger bag, "Sorry if I sounded flippant about the meteor shower. I still really enjoyed hanging out with you guys."

"It's fine," Cream reassured. "You're a perfectionist. We understand."

Tails blushed. "Yeah," he admitted.

And he was off.

* * *

South Island offered its fair share of disreputable districts, and under normal circumstances Sonic the Hedgehog would want nothing to do with them. They were dilapidated, full of quite amazingly shifty people and just generally depressing. However, admittedly, if one wanted to not be found, they served as some of the best hiding spots available. Going incognito wasn't a problem if nobody was willing to take the dive and search for you.

True, he'd caused a fair amount of unnecessary collateral damage, but it was entirely unintentional, and he felt that his actions should outweigh a few totaled minivans. But there was no such luck. Somebody had to be held responsible, and Sonic had to admit that he had undeniably caused several million dollars in property damage. But then he was not exactly an income-earning individual either. The intricacies of the economy did not concern him, as he was entirely focused on living his life day to day in the most entertaining and engaging way possible. It's not that not he didn't _want_ to pay for the damages, it's that he simply did not have any money. Period.

Not for want of trying, but after thoroughly establishing that he was unable to hang on to money without immediately spending it on the first possible opportunity Sonic was forced to concede to the fact that his financial skills, for lack of a better word, sucked. But, he decided, that didn't matter; being a well-respected hero, he could procure most anything he wanted for free from his adoring fans. He briefly pondered the morality of this system, but quickly dismissed the thought in favor of charging around the city at an obscene speed for the second time today.

Well, considering the many traffic accidents he'd caused in the past, maybe a little slower this time. That'd probably be for the best.

* * *

Atop the Shrine of the Master Emerald, Knuckles the Echidna was playing yet another game of checkers against the titular gem. Even though this was the sixth or seventh time he'd beaten it, this winning streak was of little comfort. Knuckles was bored. So very, incredibly bored. So bored that he almost found himself missing his frantic searches for the shards of the Master Emerald; at least it gave him something engaging to do, something he could focus all his time and energy to that actually had a tangible reward.

"I'm so bored," he said for the fifth time in two minutes.

Just then, as if to answer his predicament, Sonic came zooming up the stairs of the shrine. Knuckles objected to his use of the Emerald as a buffer, but Sonic defended himself, explaining that the slick stones made it impossible to stop in time.

"If you shatter this thing again, I'm going to be royally pissed off," Knuckles lied.

"Oh, big deal," Sonic dismissed him. "The chaos emeralds are scattered across space. Why do you even keep this thing around any more?"

Sonic wasn't being unreasonable. Shadow had been carrying the seven emeralds as he fell from orbit and passed on, and everyone determined just a bit late that dying while using all seven at full capacity sends them catapulting off in all directions. Unfortunately, being in high orbit, this meant the Master Emerald was now out a job, and in effect Knuckles was too. The conduit that bound and controlled the most powerful gems in the world had been reduced to a comically oversized paperweight.

"The emeralds may be missing, but they're still out there somewhere. It may be possible to use the Master Emerald to track them down."

"Brilliant plan," Sonic scoffed. "Let's all pile into the family camper and drive to space, why don't we? I'll pack."

"Shut up, Sonic," Knuckles pointed out. "It's just a thought." He paused. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been slumming. I'm pretty sure the fuzz is after my head so I decided to hide in the red light district until the heat's off, but that place smells like a sulfur mine got it on with a used jock strap. So I decided to visit you."

"Don't count on them forgetting what you did. This isn't a video game; heat doesn't just go away after five minutes."

Sonic sighed. "Well, what do you think I should do? Pay for the damages?"

Knuckles barely paused. "Yes."

"I'm broke."

"Or I dunno, go to a dealer and convince them to give you enough free cars to replace the ones you wrecked."

"Dude, do you have any idea how many that is?"

"I don't know what to tell you." There was a momentary beat. "Wait, hold on. Tails was looking for you."

Sonic paused. "Do you know why?"

"No idea," said Knuckles, honestly.

"Huh," said Sonic simply, and a moment later he was gone. Knuckles shrugged, and went back to winning his seventh or eighth chess game.

* * *

Several miles away, and an additional tenth of a mile underground, Dr. Eggman found himself unusually restless. His current loyal servant (for he went through them like tissues), Abacus, named after the purely stylistic mechanized beaded-tubes that adorned his metallic frame, had been malfunctioning to the point of uselessness. Eggman wanted the day off, but it looked like he might have to invest his time and energy into whipping up another DIY supervisor to oversee things before he could take a day to himself.

It wasn't that he particularly wanted to return to his pattern of failed attempts at seizing power, but, in much the same dilemma Knuckles was facing, he certainly missed having a singular purpose to devote himself to. And true, he was still designing deadly machinery, but it was purely for the sake of recreational mechanical work. It's not like he'd find another use for these things, right?

Designing more user-friendly, marketable machinery and gadgets certainly made him more appealing, and he was beginning to consider that, depending on how much of his history was public knowledge, that he could perhaps improve his reputation and make use of it to influence the world around him. After all, his end goal had always been to build a utopia. Any action in pursuit of such a noble goal was justified, he reasoned, but the more overt violent approach simply didn't work. He was outgunned and outclassed by both Sonic and his friends and G.U.N., who, thanks to their similarly warped devotion to keeping the free world free, probably hated him even more.

Eggman leaned back in his chair. There was just one other thing bothering him: "What in the hell am I going to do with that Egg Carrier III?" he wondered aloud. He'd built it in the lull between the Chaos incident and that unfortunate business with the space colony ARK, and it seemed a shame to let such a marvel of engineering lay dormant in an underground hangar, gathering dust. But then he certainly couldn't take it out for a spin. His newfound status as a non-criminal was precarious at best, and taking such a massive craft out for a spin would raise all of the red flags possible with any one of the multiple agencies monitoring his activities for potential threats.

* * *

Tails sat in his backyard, mentally dissecting the surrounding landscape into national borders and then putting them to bloody war after a series of diplomatic faux pas caused by incompetent translators. He zeroed in on one country, his favorite; while it only occupied a single hill, that high ground gave it a massive strategic advantage. He'd dubbed it Hillsylvania, having used up all his clever names on the larger nations. Tails took a deep breath, grinned, and promptly began plotting the takeover of the neighboring Meadowslovakia, occupying their forces with a land invasion before they could launch an offensive against Hillsylvania.

It was at this point that Sonic appeared out of nowhere, two feet in front of him. "Yo," he said.

"AAAAHH!" Tails answered, jumping what felt at the time to be twenty feet in the air.

"Knuckles said you were looking for me."

"I think my aorta just exploded," Tails wheezed, trying to subdue a panic attack from the lightning-fast invasion of his personal space. "But yes, I have been. Look, I know how to clear your name and give you your life back. You're not gonna like it, though."

"Try me."

"G.U.N. is offering to pull strings and get all charges against you dropped if, _if_ you offer your services to them as a..." Tails paused, trying to come up with the most enticing way to word this. "...secret agent." _You could've done better than that_ , he thought to himself.

Sonic didn't hesitate even a moment. "No."

"Uh, hello, all charges dropped? Was that not clear to you?"

"After what they did to me? After what they did aboard the ARK? At least Eggman admitted he was doing highly immoral things to achieve his end goal. These guys play army in the name of freedom, but behind closed doors all bets are off. The ends justify the means."

"That...was a highly articulate tirade for you," said Tails, genuinely impressed despite the slightly condescending tone. "Look, nobody's forcing you to do anything. We just want our friend back." He put his hand on Sonic's shoulder, where there was suddenly a sharp prick.

"Hey! Did you just pinch me?!" Sonic shouted.

"What? No. Why would I even...?"

"Either you pinched me or jammed a thumbtack into my shoulder.'

"I just got through telling you how much we care about you. Why would I do that? You can trust me."

Sonic blindly groped for any foreign object on his shoulder but came up empty. "Static?" he suggested.

"For lack of a better explanation," Tails agreed, "let's go with that. But seriously, I know you don't want to do this, but you're of far more use to the world when you're not fleeing the authorities. Please just consider it, OK?"

Sonic nodded his head ambiguously in several different directions, and went on his way.


	2. Descent

Chapter 2

Descent

In approximately five minutes, Sonic would lose all trust in Tails. Good intentions be damned, Sonic had been lied to and manipulated by his best friend. Former best friend, as of five minutes from now.

He had been taking another stroll, or at least his definition of a stroll, through the red light district when he noticed quite a large quantity of windowless vans parked throughout the area. Sonic briefly toyed with the idea that a convention specifically aimed at disreputable individuals might be in town, but dismissed the thought as silly. Moments later he felt a second sharp sting to the shoulder. He jolted around, this time easily finding the responsible object in question. It was a dart. He quickly scanned the street for the origin of said dart, only to discover six of the incredibly suspicious-looking vans rapidly approaching him.

Oh no. Sonic just then realized what Tails had done to him. He turned to run, but simply fell over. "Run lateeeer," he slurred. "Time for sleep..." And out he went like a light.

Seemingly seconds later, Sonic awoke to find himself cuffed more times than he had limbs, secured to a metallic chair. "Tails, you son of a bitch," he muttered, alerting the attending staff that he had woken up. The room was totally featureless and dark, save for the single dangling lightbulb and the obligatory two-way mirror. Sonic figured this was all for show; intimidate the prisoners by mimicking the exaggerated interrogation rooms they'd seen in the movies. He took a moment to consider the point of pretending a two-way mirror was anything but. Since nobody would fall for that trick, he figured it must be purely for psychological effect; even if you know people are watching you from the other side, not being able to see them makes you inherently more comfortable and therefore cooperative.

Enter a large, grey-haired man. He was easily in his sixties, and judging from the multitude of medals adorning his similarly grey uniform he was in the higher echelons of G.U.N. His dichromatic eyes stood out in particular, and probably served as an easy conversation piece.

"Look," Sonic began, "I'll find a way to pay for the damages-"

"We don't give a shit about those cars you totaled. We've been gunning for your services for years-"

Sonic chuckled. "Hah! 'Gunning'! I get it!"

"Shut your mouth!" shouted the man, grabbing Sonic by his shoulders. "We finally have the opportunity to make use of your particular skill set. Just stay quiet and do what you're told and we won't have to drag your friends into this."

Sonic's chipper defiance melted and drowned. "You can't do that," he growled.

"We do whatever it takes," responded the man, simply. Sonic couldn't argue with that logic, at least not out loud. "We'll uncuff you as soon as we're certain you're ready to cooperate. Which in all likelihood will be in approximately five seconds." He turned to the two-way. "Kill the mirror!" he ordered.

And there, sitting on the other side, was Tails, shackled to hell just like Sonic, a clear look of regret on his saddened face. Sonic stared in bemusement, and seeing him in such a horrible position he couldn't help but forgive Tails for planting the tracker on him. Then he swore, very loudly, for a solid fifteen seconds.

Calming down, he lowered his head, conceding defeat. "Tails, I'm so sorry," he said, knowing full and well Tails probably couldn't hear him. He turned to the grey-haired man and glared. "You win. You freaking win. Just tell me what I need to do."

"That's the spirit!" said the man, condescendingly. "You'll be taking all your orders through me. My name is Abraham Tower. You might have heard of me." Sonic shook his head in an affirmative. "Well, let's see what you're made of, shall we?"

There was a high-pitched buzz as every shackle simultaneously flung itself open and clattered into a pile on the floor. Sonic stood up, stretched, turned to Tower, and charged at him. This attempted attack was cut short by a sudden electrical shock that sent him to the floor, seizing uncontrollably.

As the shock ended and Sonic lay dazed on the floor, Tower explained what he had already deduced. "Shock collar. Act out of line and you'll get enough volts to jumpstart a car. Tamper with it and it blows your head off."

"Fantastic," Sonic muttered under his breath. "Well," he said aloud, sighing. "Let's get this over with."

After being outfitted with an earpiece (and deliberately not told about the camera installed in the shock collar), Sonic found himself, not for the first time that year, an unwilling passenger aboard a G.U.N. helicopter. At least I'm not cuffed this time, he thought to himself, trying to make the best of what was arguably one of the worst situations he'd ever been in.

Now he was nothing more than a pawn. His integrity, his assuredness that he was always doing the right thing, all that went out the window the moment Tails put that tracker on him. Sonic grimaced at the thought. As angry as he was about what Tails had done, that image of the poor fox covered in shackles, paying so very dearly for trying to help his best friend, pervaded his mind.

Down below he could see decrepit brick structures littering the hills. They had been there for quite some time, and judging the from the area they were likely relics of the echidna tribes that had inhabited the island for several thousand years. Far be it from him to criticize their masonry, but this certainly wasn't as exciting as the spectacular ziggurats Sonic had encountered in the aptly named Mystic Ruins region. True, that wasn't too far from their current position, but there was a mountain between them that prevented any of the indigenous occupants from possibly encountering each other. The societies had been essentially isolated and developed independently, and it showed in their different styles of construction and tool-making.

There were a number of mine shafts that stretched for miles underneath the mountain, completely unlit save for small fires that were maintained along the way. They remained largely unexplored because they went unreasonably deep and required time and manpower those sponsoring the expeditions couldn't possibly pay for. G.U.N. had been pushing for excavations ever since the Chaos incident, and Sonic could tell that had something to do with why he was being brought here.

Sonic felt his stomach violently shift upward as the helicopter took a sharp dive and quickly pulled up, descending over the makeshift helipad below. It landed rather clumsily, which Sonic attributed to the pilot actively hating him, and a team was dispatched to meet it. A relatively short man surrounded by tall soldiers stood twenty feet away. Sonic glared at them. He was dressed all in beige with a large hat to protect from the harsh sun; stereotypical safari wear. Sonic chuckled at the thought of the man being confronted with a large animal he had no idea how to handle. "Oh my," he'd probably say before soiling his trousers.

The door kerchunked open, and Sonic was escorted out of the helicopter to meet the incredibly beige man.

"Dr. Regis Comstock," he introduced himself, shouting over the roar of the chopper.

"Sure," Sonic said indifferently, and followed as he was led to a nearby building that had clearly been erected in all of two hours by poorly paid locals. The inside was rather run down, obviously not regularly maintained, and about the three immediately visible rooms there were tables topped with various anthropological oddities. Comstock took a seat on a chair in the middle of the room. Sonic did the same next to him.

"I'm sure Mr. Tower has explained why you've been brought here," he said.

Sonic made eye contact. "Something about delving into a mine. Nothing specific beyond that."

Comstock stood back up. "The chaos emeralds were forged in an area deep within the Earth, a place we believe these mines were intending to reach. We've been trying to survey the area, but alas, us humans are rather lackluster when it comes to such intensive activities."

"You want me to go down there, don't you?" Sonic sighed. "What do you expect me to find?"

"The fountain. The place where the liquid chaos came from. We believe it to be the perfect source of endless renewable energy the world has been waiting for. This substance has the power to enrich of the lives of everyone on this planet and we want you to help us make this a reality."

"That sounds suspiciously nice," said Sonic.

"I know you think G.U.N. is shady," Comstock replied, "but trust me, they're looking out for everyone. I've seen it first hand."

"OK, what exactly do I have to do?"

"We'll hook you a life line. It'll provide you with a feed to the outside world, power for lights, basically everything you'll need. Then you'll be deployed down into the deepest shafts we've identified. If you can locate some liquid chaos, use the equipment we've provided to collect a sample and report back to base."

"I want to speak to Tails," Sonic demanded.

"If you're cooperative that shouldn't be a problem." Comstock walked over to a desk and picked up a gemstone, toying with it in his fingers. "There's something big down there...and when we find it it could change everything."

"Tails was just trying to help. Look, you've got the collar on me, I can't pull anything. Please let him go."

"I'm sorry, I have no control over that."

Sonic sighed and slouched in his chair. "This is going to be long day. A looong day."

The next few hours saw Sonic being suited up for deployment. Rigged in full kevlar armor, night-vision goggles and platinum sneakers, it was the kind of badass look he'd really appreciate if it weren't for the dire situation. He would've given anything to enjoy a nice long look at himself posing in the mirror, maybe do a little victory jig, but he couldn't dare focus on such menial things. One thing and one thing only was at the forefront of his mind: locating this fountain they were talking about to negotiate Tails' release.

The cable groaned as the pulleys began to move. Sonic, suspended at the end of the cable, slowly descended down the shaft, his light barely penetrating the depths. It was very moist down here. The walls were slick and covered with mildew, and there was a distinct stench of rot whose origin Sonic dared not question. Time passed. At approximately twelve hundred feet below ground, Sonic reached a stable surface. He unholstered a large pistol and fired a sticky light against the far wall. Upon impact it immediately illuminated the cave, revealing the cragged formations and various tunnels in the surrounding area.

"OK, I've reached the first checkpoint," Sonic said into his receiver. "Where do I go from here?"

"There should be a seemingly bottomless pit approximately fifty feet to the north," Comstock replied, his voice distorted by the poor signal. "We need you to affix another pulley next to it so you may descend to the next checkpoint."

"Got it."

Sonic did as he was told, and shortly found himself an additional thousand feet further underground. This same pattern went on for some time. Sonic would reach a checkpoint, find another shaft and descend further. After several hours he'd finally had enough.

"Can I take a breather?"

"You're almost there."

"Ugh," Sonic groaned. "I'll take your word for it."

Within moments he gracefully landed on the ground, and deployed a sticky light. Wait. Hold on a moment. This...this place is different. There was a distinct trickling of a metallic liquid on the far side of the cavern, and the surrounding walls were clearly artificial. Brick. They were brick. Somebody had been down here before. Pictograms adorned the walls. Sonic didn't recognize them, and they didn't even remotely resemble any language he was familiar with, but they were clearly articulate words and phrases all over the place. Up above, pointed crystalline formations hung from the walls, surreptitiously pulsating in color. They were in all probability related to chaos energy in some manner, but testing would be needed to determine exactly how. But that was precisely the kind of thing he was down here to work on in the first place.

"There's some sort of structure down here," Sonic reported. "Made of bricks. And there's a metallic substance trickling out of a hole in the wall. It kind of looks like mercury. Is that the stuff you're looking for?"

"Retrieve a sample immediately," Comstock ordered.

Suddenly a noise came from behind Sonic. It wasn't a particularly alarming noise in of itself, but the surprise lay in the fact that there was a noise in the first place. He turned around and prepared for the worst, but froze in his tracks. It was a chao. Huh.

"Comstock, I just found a chao down here."

"Really? What does it look like?"

The chao was quite unlike the kind Sonic was used to. While it held to the same general physiology as a normal chao, there was something distinctly off about it. Its eyes had an unnatural gleam, probably due to refraction of light in the retina; it was most definitely adapted to seeing in the dark, which was understandable considered it lived at depths even Knuckles wouldn't dare dig to.

"Well, it's white," Sonic began. "It's got a very round head, claws on its hands, no wings, and its eyes are really weird. I've never seen one like it before."

The chao hissed and charged at Sonic, who flinched. However, instead of attacking him, it quickly diverted itself to the trickle of metallic liquid and began lapping at it. Sonic stared in abject confusion as the chao's flesh, before completely opaque, seemingly dissolved into a liquid before slowly phasing back to its original state.

"OK, there's something really weird going on here." Sonic slowly walked over to the liquid, kneeled down, deployed his sample analysis kit and filled several small vials, which he stowed in his storage bag. "There. I've got a sample of the liquid chaos. I think."

"Very good," said Comstock. "Now there's someone here who wants to talk to you."

"Sonic?" came a weary voice.

"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. What's going on down there?"

"There's a weird chao and something that looks like mercury pouring out of a brick wall. I was just about to start ascending back to base camp with a sample."

"They want me to run the sample analysis when you get back," Tails explained. "Apparently they have a use for the both of us."

"Gah!" Sonic yelled.

"What? What is it?" Tails asked.

Sonic flailed as the chao, phasing into a liquid state, began eating away at the cable. Bubbles formed and steam hissed as the metallic compound dissolved. He tried to pull it off, but alas, his hands simply passed right through.

"The chao is trying to break the cable!" Sonic yelled. "Pull me up! Hurry!"

He made it only fifteen feet up before the cable's structural integrity gave way. Sonic plummeted to the ground and was knocked unconscious against a boulder.

Then the liquid chao enveloped him.


	3. Nothing Wrong

**Chapter 3**

 **Nothing Wrong**

A lone figure sat in the middle of a large, empty expanse. The room was very poorly lit, though the flickering light in the center cast a dim if inconsistent glow across the metallic walls. The figure was toying with her hair, waiting for her orders to come in. She'd been sitting like this for hours and wanted more than anything to take a walk and stretch her legs, but that was out of the question; this would be the most important mission of her life, and there was no way in hell she was going to miss it over minor discomfort.

There came a glow from the floor, which then emitted a hologram. It wasn't the stereotypical flickering messy-signal type, either; it was completely clean and opaque, utterly life-like except for its tiny size. The projection was not of someone, but simply of text reading "VOICE ONLY" in what was somehow an intimidating font.

"We need you to collect a certain object. This is of the absolute upmost importance. I am sending you an information packet and approximate coordinates where you can expect to find it."

The information displayed, replacing the "VOICE ONLY" text. The lone figure smiled, and said, "It will be done." She reached into her pocket and retrieved a data stick, plugged it into the holo-display and downloaded the information. Well, this was unexpected. She was all gung-ho to go on a dangerous mission and all she got was a fetch quest. Oh well. If it really was as important as they said, maybe it won't be so bad. After all, a mission's a mission, and she could definitely expect a huge spike in pay for completing one of this supposed caliber.

Sonic twitched involuntarily. He felt a sharp pain in his thigh and let out a huge gasp of air, but he couldn't breathe. Something was in his throat. Something moving. Sonic flailed helplessly, trying to dislodge whatever it was, until all of a sudden the liquid that was the chao spewed out of his mouth, floated through the air and formed back into its original opaque state. The chao hissed at him and quickly scuttled away. Sonic fell to his side, heaving, gasping for the precious air he had gone so long without. After maybe two minutes or so, he felt composed enough to contact base.

"Guys...the chao...it turned into a liquid and went inside me."

"What?" Tails asked in bemusement.

"It's gone now." Sonic coughed, messily. "It just...it went into my mouth. I don't know. I'm freaking out here."

"Are the samples still intact?" Comstock asked.

Sonic reached for his kit. Phew. The vials were still there. "Yeah," he answered. "I've still got them. I just don't know how I'm gonna get back up."

"That shouldn't be an issue," said Comstock. "Now that you've successfully finished your reconnaissance mission, we can send a team down to meet you. We'll get you back up and...get you some medical attention. Hopefully that chao didn't do anything nasty, but, chances are, it did."

Sonic shivered. "I don't even want to think about it. Just get that team down here. And bring Tails to the dig site. I want to see him when I get back up."  
"He's already on his way. We want him to run the analysis of the liquid chaos," Comstock replied.

Sonic smiled for the first time in what felt like years. "Good."

Sonic trudged his way back across the field to the dilapidated building he had originally discussed the mission with Comstock in. Upon entering, his mood rose at the sight of Tails, no longer shackled, sitting in a chair.

"Hey," said Sonic, not really sure of how to start.

"I'm sorry-" Tails began.

"Don't." Sonic held his hand out. "Don't do this to yourself. You didn't know. I forgive you. Just don't worry about it at all."

Tears welled up in Tails' eyes. "I'm sorry...I should've known what I was getting myself into."

Sonic looked down at the floor. "No, no, you were just trying to help. It's fine. I really mean it. You didn't do anything wrong."

Tails let out a sob, but tried his best to restrain it. "I...I'm sorry..."

Sonic sighed. "I know..."

Tails looked back up, his eyes now red with tears. "Are you OK? The chao didn't hurt you or anything did it?"

"I don't think so...like, I mean, it hurt when it went down my throat, but I don't think it left anything. I need to get checked out by the medical team to be sure, though."

"If you die..." Tails couldn't help himself; he quietly cried into his hands. "If you die," he repeated, "...it'll be my fault..."

Sonic walked over to Tails and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't say that. It's going to be OK. I promise." He knew this wasn't a promise he could guarantee, but that didn't matter; he just wanted Tails to feel better. He silently cursed the shock collar. Without it, he could've so very easily just taken Tails and run the hell out of there; end of story. Unfortunately life wasn't quite so forgiving.

"You did good," came Comstock's voice from outside the door. Sonic turned around, sighed, and walked over to him.

"Can I go now?" Sonic asked, knowing the answer.

"G.U.N. is pleased with your work. They do have another mission for you, but it doesn't go into action until tomorrow. Until you're called upon, you and Tails are free to roam the grounds. Who knows, maybe you'll stumble into some archaeological oddity my men have missed."

"Well," Sonic conceded, "that's better than nothing I suppose." He turned back around to Tails. "Hey, Tails! After I swing by the medical tent, you wanna take a walk? If we stay in this general area, they don't really care where we go!"

Tails was curled up on the floor. He raised his head and nodded, figuring a nice brisk walk to clear his head would be far better than mentally beating himself up. He slowly stood and joined Sonic at the door. "I'm-" he began to apologize, but Sonic cut him off.

"Don't. It's not going to make you feel any better. Just wait here for me to get back, OK?"

Tails let a little smile escape for the first time in hours. "OK."

Sonic traveled to the medical tent for his checkup, which went fully without incident. In fact, alarmingly without incident; there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. Or, at least, there was nothing detectably wrong with him. Somehow, that was even more worrying than if he had been straight-up ill from whatever that liquid chao was. If it went inside him, there had to have been a reason. And, generally speaking, when a creature goes inside you it probably doesn't have your best interests in mind. One thing was for sure, though: Tails was not to know of these concerns. He already felt responsible for everything that had happened today, so the last thing Sonic wanted was to pile more stress on him. He'd been through enough already. Sonic had been assured that he was fine and, for all Tails would know, that was all there was to it.

He made the trip back to the house where Tails was waiting, only to find him curled up again on the floor. Upon hearing the footsteps, Tails shot back onto his feet. "Sonic! Are you-"

"I'm fine, Tails. You don't have to worry any more. There's nothing wrong with me."

Tails let out a sigh of relief, as the emotional weight he'd been carrying dissolved. Even if they were in this mess because of him, at least Sonic was OK. At least it hadn't gotten any worse. "So, about that walk..." he began.

"Sure thing, buddy. Let's see if we can't find some cool ruins to check out."

Tails smiled. "Awesome," he said, and he really meant it.


	4. Missing

**Chapter 4**

 **Missing**

Knuckles lay next to the Master Emerald, sleeping. It had been yet another normal day in an endless series of quite hideously normal days. In fact, if Knuckles had one more normal day, he figured he may as well adorn himself with a rainbow wig and strum a banjo just to inject some, well, _life_ into life. But no, that was just a silly thought. It's not like he even knew where you would shop for a rainbow wig, or if such a garish thing were even available to the general public. Oh well. It didn't really matter. Everything was stable. If true happiness came from stability, then Knuckles, like it or not, had the happiest life of them all.

Which of course made it so much more ironic when he fell from his high horse that very night. There wasn't a dramatic battle. There wasn't even an anticlimactic scuffle. The Master Emerald just...wasn't there any more. He had dozed off one minute, only to awake to the newly empty shrine. Well, wasn't this just a kick in the teeth? Knuckles stared in bemusement, scanning the immediate vicinity for any signs of the emerald. Nothing. Zilch.

"Oh," he said, flatly, like a parent after watching their child utterly butcher Tchaikovsky at recital night.

* * *

Sonic wasn't overly thrilled to learn his second mission would be to retrieve the Master Emerald, in no small part due to how boring and obvious the idea felt, but he was definitely in no position to refuse it.

He was also slightly curious about why G.U.N. hadn't stolen it themselves ages ago, but reasoned, very but not entirely accurately, that the government would never have condoned the action and that using him to carry it out gave them plausible deniability.

Which almost certainly meant there was a chance this could go horribly, horribly wrong.

Despite this, Sonic was very relieved to learn that Tails would be permitted to join him on this particular endeavor. If nothing else, this little two-man quest could harken back to days he had been wishing dearly to return to, and this was no small comfort in light of everything that had happened to him over the past twenty-four hours.

Overall, it seemed, Sonic's life had been getting progressively more complicated, but so slowly that he hadn't really noticed; like a species of fish developing stumpy proto-legs over the course of tens of thousands of generations, it was massive change that, despite its overall bigness and hugeness, only became readily apparent were you to actually go back and compare notes.

Initially, Sonic's only enemy had been Eggman (formerly identified by his real name, Dr. Robotnik, before he decided to adopt an ironic nonthreatening moniker), whose MO remained fairly consistent.

1991\. He could remember it well. He had just turned old enough to start impulsively throwing himself into life-threatening situations just for fun. Situations like fighting Eggman's influence over South Island. Sonic thought of himself as a self-sacrificing individual out to save the world, and his conviction of virtue only grew as the years went by.

However, anyone close to him could tell you the truth was that Sonic had grown ever more impulsive, and his experience of finding himself largely impervious to danger only encouraged him to take further risks that, years ago, he wouldn't have even considered. But, as sayeth the old adage he so very often quoted in defense of his more absurd endeavors: "desperate times call for desperate measures". But given how nasty things had gotten in recent years, nobody bothered to argue the point any more.

His list of enemies had ballooned the exact moment he first began to believe in ideological principles more complex than "bad guys need to be punched". If some people threw salt over their left shoulder into the Devil's eyes, Sonic turned around, faced the demon head on, and smiled as he yanked the release on the salt trebuchet. He despised immorality, and he saw it everywhere. Soda cans on the side of the road weren't tacky, they were a sign of society's impending collapse into anarchy. It was nothing but a massive ego-trip, but if you asked Sonic, he would call it basic altruism. His opinions got quite heated, but you had to admit: when it came right down to it he got the job done better than anyone else. Not only was Sonic a crusader for the free world, now he was also a crusader against the little things that made life just a tad bit worse.

Tails was finding himself increasingly of the opinion that collars would be a cruel and unusual punishment even if they hadn't been capable of liquefying his head. He was already guilt-tripping himself quite a fair deal already, so it seemed unnecessary of them to graciously provide complimentary punishment.

"It's not enough that they blackmail you into doing their bidding," came the fifth slight variation of this same thought in the past ten minutes, "but they have to really rub the sheer feeling of powerlessness into you. Like being scared and humiliated will help you work more efficiently." Sonic was more or less in agreement, but he didn't comment. Tails was already agitated, and feeding into it would be nothing but a hindrance to both of them.

"You know, running isn't actually my thing," came an attempted change of subject.

Tails paused, very briefly. "Running is so definitively your thing."

"Dude, if some guy paces in the back of a room while brainstorming, you wouldn't declare it his sole defining feature. I run when I want think. It turns the world into a blur; nothing matters but me and my thoughts."

"Poetic," said Tails, "and you don't end up covered in grease and oil like I do."

"Don't sell yourself short. Mechanical knowhow is an invaluable skill"

"Sonic, I'm objectively filthy a solid 70% of my waking life. That's not up for debate."

Sonic took a mental note that someone as perceptive as Tails would definitely see through his not-particularly-subtle attempts at self-esteem boosting, and decided to hold off unless he found a real excuse to say such things.

Setting out slightly later than they'd anticipated, the two were rushed aboard the chopper that would in three hours deliver them to the outskirts of the floating Angel Island. After disembarking, they were to make the relatively short trip to the Shrine of the Master Emerald where they would, if necessary, tranq Knuckles, secure the emerald and return it to the landing site. It would then be secured a harness, affixed to the chopper and transported back the Mystic Ruins digsite. Sonic objected on the grounds that taking out Knuckles himself would save on dart money that could be better invested on anger management lessons for Commander Tower, a suggestion that was met with a series of poorly concealed chuckles from the pilot and his escort.

The three armed soldiers initially intended to be sent along as backup had been dropped from the mission profile after Tails was able to convince Tower that a shootout would only result in the Master Emerald being shattered into pieces that had a nasty habit of flying off in random directions. This would have been a good thing since it'd keep it out of the hands of G.U.N., but Tails' real motivation was concern for Knuckles' safety. Tranquilizing and robbing him was bad enough, but if he got shot...well, Tails wasn't sure he could ever recover from getting a friend killed.

"This has to stop," he whispered to Sonic, surreptitiously as he could manage. "I set off an uncontrollable chain reaction. They know they can get to you through me, and they can get to me through you. We're complimentary Achille's heels here. Either we both get out or..." Tails froze. The collar was recording every word. He'd completely forgotten about it. He clenched his eyes shut in preparation for a shock. There was an extended lull. He opened his eyes. "Is...is the shock broken?"

"No," came Tower's voice over through a tiny speaker on the collar. "This mission is too important to incapacitate you. But make no mistake, if you deviate from the operation in any way, there will be _dire_ consequences."

* * *

"So," asked Amy, "where's Sonic?" She scanned the immediate vicinity. Nobody was there, but the lack of answer still irritated her. It wasn't like he'd promised to be there, or like he had any reason to be hanging around at all. But nonetheless, more than a day without at least a cursory exchange got her concerned, and rightly so considering Sonic's current status as a wanted fugitive.

She dialed Cream for the third time and asked if she'd seen him. Cream responded by hanging up, which clearly warranted a fourth call. "I keep telling you," she moaned, making little if any attempt to sound courteous, "I'll call _you_ if I hear anything."

"But, but..." said Amy.

"But what?" Cream shot back.

Amy paused. "I didn't actually have a sentence there."

"I know," said Cream, and disconnected the call. Always the bubbly effervescent one, even Cream was reduced to glib frustration with Amy on occasion. Amy was normally a joy to be around, but her exuberance could get painfully overbearing; particularly when Sonic was involved. All her friends simply hoped her obsessive crush was a phase, because, despite such behavior being normal at her age, it would be increasingly cause for concern if it didn't gradually fade with time.

Amy sat down in her favorite chair, and tried to keep in mind that Sonic was obviously safe. Nothing ever happened to him, and it was definitely just silly paranoia to be worried. He was probably off running to his heart's content, or hanging out with Knuckles at the Shrine of the Master Emerald.

* * *

Approximately seventy meters from the Shrine, Sonic and Tails were hiding behind a thistle bush. There was no one here to hide from, but given the circumstances they didn't want to take the risk of being spotted no matter how nonexistent.

"Let me handle this," said Tails. "I can fly in and nab it without a sound. You may be fast, but your feet make a heck of a lot of noise."

"Good point." Sonic sighed. "They've turned me into freaking Eggman, stealing the Master Emerald for some diabolical plot. I feel like punching myself."

Tails had no idea how to respond, so he settled with, "Be right back," twirled his twin tails and helicoptered his way towards the shrine. Within thirty seconds he could make out the glow of the Master Emerald, and in another forty-five he was hovering five feet above it. Gingerly descending, he wrapped his arms tightly around the Emerald and lifted it out of its rightful place. Knuckles continued to dream, obliviously.  
Tails smiled, trying to glean what little satisfaction he could from at least pulling off the least ethical thing he'd ever done with grace and finesse. Though curiously lightweight, the sheer size of the Emerald made it quite difficult to keep a grip on, so he made to sure to make his return flight low to the ground. He fully expected to drop the emerald multiple times, but that likely wouldn't be much more than a minor annoyance once he was no longer at risk of waking Knuckles.

Sonic was beginning to worry. Even under normal circumstances, waiting around with nothing to occupy himself with was unbearable, let alone doing so while his friend could very well getting a beating for what he was attempting to do. Oh no, that was it, wasn't it? Tails hadn't been able to pull it off. What if this mission was a test of his competence as an operative? What if they decided he was of no use and set off the explosive? That was it, Sonic couldn't wait any longer. He floored it, spindashing to the shrine and slowing upon final approach on the off-chance that nothing had actually gone wrong.

Sonic let out a huge sigh of relief. The Master Emerald was missing; Tails had pulled it off. But wait, he was supposed to meet Sonic back where he'd been waiting. Was he...oh no, was he making a run for it? Was he baiting them to explode the collar, shattering the Master Emerald to keep it out of G.U.N.'s hands? True, he'd been blaming himself for all of this, and true, his emotional state had been as far from his chipper, precocious self as Sonic had ever seen, but...he couldn't be that far gone, not so soon. Not Tails.

But what could he do? He had no idea where Tails had gone, and as soon as he reported back to G.U.N. that would be curtains. Wait. The collars have tracking devices. If he could just convince them to let him live-no, Tower would never allow it. Tails was...Tails was going to die, and there was absolutely nothing Sonic could do about it.


End file.
